ARTICLES ABOUT FATALITY BY DATE - PAGE 4

A Lakeview man accused of drunkenly driving the wrong way on Lake Shore Drive early Friday and killing a woman after he struck her oncoming taxi was ordered held on $750,000 bail Sunday in Cook County bond court. Erik F. Johnson, 23, of the 3500 block of North Janssen Avenue, faces reckless homicide, aggravated DUI and other charges in the wrong-way crash that killed Laura Anne LaPlante, a University of Chicago law student, and injured three others, including himself. Johnson drove his 2014 Subaru SUV south onto the northbound Lake Shore lanes near Grand Avenue at about 1:50 a.m. Friday, according to Assistant State's Attorney Colleen Rogers.

A woman who died after the taxi in which she was riding was hit by a suspected drunken driver going the wrong way on Lake Shore Drive was about to graduate from University of Chicago Law School, authorities said Saturday afternoon. The driver, whose vehicle collided with the taxi, killing Laura Anne LaPlante, of Hancock, N.H., and injuring himself and two others, was charged in connection with the crash Saturday night. Erik Johnson, 23, of the 3500 block of North Janssen Avenue, is due in court Sunday.

Authorities have reopened the outbound lanes of the Dan Ryan Expressway at 18th Street after a fatal traffic crash early his morning that left a man dead and three other people hospitalized. A 32-year-old man was killed in the two-vehicle crash, which happened in the outbound lanes near 26th Street about 3:30 a.m., according to Illinois State Police and the Cook County medical examiner's office. The man was identified as Gregory Squaire of the 6900 block of South Bell Avenue.

MILFORD - The lawyer for the teenager accused of fatally stabbing Jonathan Law High School junior Maren Sanchez on Friday said he expects the youth to face a murder charge as an adult offender. Bridgeport attorney Richard Meehan said on Saturday that the teen - identified by sources as Chris Plaskon of Milford - will not appear in juvenile court in New Haven on Monday and will remain at a medical facility, where he is being held on a "15-day emergency commitment. " Meehan would not confirm the teen's name.

BEIJING (Reuters) - China has arrested the driver of a school bus that crashed in the southern island province of Hainan, killing eight students and injuring 32 others, state news agency said on Friday. Zhao Caisen was arrested on suspicion of causing the accident in Chengmai County on April 10, Xinhua said, citing a warrant issued by the prosecutor of Wenchang City. Accidents involving school vehicles have drawn public anger in China in recent years after a series of fatal incidents.

By Steve Schmadeke and Jeremy Gorner and Tribune reporters | April 25, 2014

Cecilia Garcia learned on Facebook of an emergency involving her son, Joaquin, 25, but hours dragged by before she found out the horrible truth: he and a friend had been killed when a drunken, off-duty suburban police officer driving the wrong way on Lake Shore Drive struck their vehicle last spring. "That brought me down to my knees," said Garcia, whose thoughts at that moment flashed back to when "Waco" was an infant and she would silently pray to God to protect him. Relatives of Garcia and Fabian Torres, 27, as well as a woman who was injured in a third car, plan to be in court today for the expected guilty plea by Terrell Garrett, a North Chicago cop who had been out celebrating his 35th birthday before the 4 a.m. crash.

A driver who had gotten out of his semi to take pictures of damage from an accident was struck and killed by a truck turning onto Division Street in the Noble Square neighborhood this morning. The driver had been involved in an accident with a van on Division Street just east of the Kennedy Expressway about 6:25 a.m., according to authorities. He got out of his semi to take photos of the damage, and a truck turning east onto Division Street struck him with its rear wheels, officials said.

TALLAHASSEE, Florida (Reuters) - The sister of a north Florida woman whose fatal shooting more than three years ago was ruled a suicide made a tearful plea to Governor Rick Scott on Thursday to order an investigation, in a case that has raised questions of a police cover-up. Jennifer O'Connell Crites handed a letter to the governor's receptionist and said, between sobs, her family has started an online petition to build public pressure for an independent inquiry into the death of her sister, Michelle O'Connell.

IMOLA, Italy (Reuters) - Twenty years after Ayrton Senna died at Imola's race track, the town is gearing up to honor a Formula One driver it remembers as much for his charity and charisma as his three world championship wins. Memories of the great Brazilian are still clear in the minds of many in the northern Italian town where five days of events to commemorate the anniversary begin on April 30. "I remember it like it was yesterday. I cried for a week," said bar owner Gianni Mezzetti, 56, founder of the Barrichello Fans Club named after Senna's compatriot and former Ferrari driver Rubens.